Issue Expert

Environmental Equity

Transformative Climate Communities

California cities have invested significant resources to develop climate action plans that address pressing, local environmental concerns. In some cases, community-based organizations lead the way by crafting sustainability plans that can catalyze equitable economic development at the neighborhood level. But cities and community-based organizations need support and resources to align their work, and speed up the pace at which they can implement these plans. California needs this alignment in order to leverage the momentum of local planning and state policies such as AB32, SB535 and AB1550 to attract private capital.Funding and access to capital represent major barriers, since emerging technologies and practices may have higher upfront costs that do not meet standard return on investments. New technologies typically add a “risk premium” to projects that results in high project costs. In addition, projects may fail to achieve all their possible benefits because they are not integrated and designed to work together to meet multiple goals at the same time.

AB 2722 – Transformative Climate Communities

Greenlining sought to establish a state-funded program that helps local governments and community groups develop coordinated sustainability plans that truly “connect the dots” and work together to maximize benefits for the community, so we sponsored and helped pass SB 2722, the Transformative Climate Communities program. This program will fund the development and implementation of neighborhood-level transformative climate community plans that include multiple, coordinated projects that will cut greenhouse gas emissions and provide local economic, environmental, and health benefits to disadvantaged communities. By putting resources together and planning thoughtfully, we can integrate good ideas to meet multiple goals: Cutting carbon emissions, cleaning the air, saving energy, improving transportation, and creating good jobs and opportunities for local businesses. Learn more here.